Escaping on Broken Wings
by Kaleidoscope Glass
Summary: Poor, poor Ed. First his leg, then his arm, then his alchemy... Now his humanity. Part of it, anyway. /T for safety. Takes place at the end of Brotherhood.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hullo, everyone. 'Tis I, Kaleidoscope Glass (A.K.A., Joanne K. Riordan), with a brand-new story! * ****Confetti falls and starts to explode ***

**O.o Well… This is new.**

**This takes place after the end of **_**Brotherhood**_**.**

**I don't own The Saga of Darren Shan (Cirque du Freak), Maximum Ride, or Fullmetal Alchemist.**

* * *

Ed was still blushing as he stepped onto the train. He settled down and looked out the window as the train started to pick up speed, seeing Winry waving (she was still blushing too, of course.). Sticking his hand out the window to wave back, he watched the station slip away and trees blur. _This is going to be the last look at Risembool for a long time_, he reminded himself.

He was very right.

When the train was about halfway to the next station (which was actually pretty far away), he was dozing off.

Until the man with a gun burst through the door. "Get down, all of you!" he barked out. Trembling, all of the passengers began to obey. All of them, that is, excluding one Edward Elric. He stepped forward, glaring at the masked man who could rival Major Armstrong in muscles.

"Who are you? What do you want?" He growled out. Fate just couldn't let him have a moment's rest, eh? Life was just one hard blow after another for the former alchemist.

Maybe not former anymore.

Ed was – for once – unarmed, and the closest weapon was in his suitcase. In that case, it was a good thing that he usually acted on instinct. In situations like these, he would transmute a weapon and commence to beat the crap out of the offender. That was exactly what he did.

Right after his palms _thudded _onto the metal wall, his brain caught up with his body. _Wait a minute! _He screamed in his mind. _This won't work! Truth took my alchemy away!_ Defying all common sense, however, the familiar blue lightning crackled around the train, leaving behind a sharp-bladed spear. Ed stared at it in shock. _How did this happen?_ Hearing a rustle of fabric, he turned to see the man's jaws comically hitting the ground. His bravado was all show. He was new at life outside the law, otherwise he would definitely have heard of alchemy. Ed shoved aside his unspoken questions and grinned a dangerous smile. This would be fun.

Soon after the man was reduced to nothing but a bruised, shivering lump of flesh on the floor (see? He's a beginner), the train began to move once more. Settling down, Edward stared out the window once more.

He had not been sitting for even a minute before his body fell to the floor.

* * *

A long white stretch of nothing… The Gate behind his back… _It _sitting there… He should have expected it. This was the reason why he was given back the Truth – the reason why he could perform alchemy again. _Ah-hem_, someone coughed.

Turning back around, Ed saw that Truth wasn't alone. Standing next to him was a wrinkled old man, holding a watch shaped like a heart. No – it _was _a heart, pulsing with blood. Ed started to feel sick. Who the hell was this guy?

"Welcome back, Mister Al~chemist!" Truth's voice echoed around the space.

Ed was obviously in no mood for this.

"Why am I here? Why did you give me back my alchemy? Who-" he waved a hand at the man with the watch-"Who the hell is _that_?"

"All will be explained in due time." Truth pondered on this a bit after saying it. "Although, it may be a good idea to answer your last question. This is one Desmond Tiny."

The old man's mouth stretched into a grin, revealing yellowed teeth. "Please, Ed, call me Des. Des Tiny."

Des Tiny… _Destiny_. Ed felt a shudder racing up his spine – no doubt the effect that the man wanted to cause - then shook it off. There was no way that he was going to be put off by only a guy with a strange name who thought that they were on a first-name basis. Wait – he knew his _name_. How did Tiny know his _name_?

"You're here to play a little game in his world." Truth continued. "It is something out of my control, Fullmetal. The price for your alchemy will be taken from you soon enough."

"Not – not _Al_?" They could take his other leg, his arms, even his organs like Teacher – but he'd be damned if he'd let them take Al away again.

"Not Al. As this is out of both yours and mine control, it would hardly be fair. It would hardly be-" Truth's wide grin stretched out even more- "_equivalent exchange_, isn't that right? Fullmetal?"

Ed's hands curled into tightened fists. Even now, he was mocking him? "Cut the crap and get to it. Where are you taking me? What are you going to do?"

"Why, you're coming to my world." Behind him, Ed's gate began to open, dark hands poking out of the doorway. "And as for what will happen… Let's just say that I see it as my duty to introduce as much chaos as possible to life."

Before Ed could even open his mouth (To yell "_Bastard!_" at Desmond Tiny, of course), the hands pulled him into the shadows and his Gate closed with an ominous _thud_.

**A/N:**

** In case you're wondering, Maximum Ride will come into the story in later chapters. This is a filler chapter, so I apologize if it's short. This will probably go through a lot of editing in the future ^^''. Flames are accepted. **

**Hope you enjoyed!**

**~Joanne**


	2. Chapter 2

Escaping on Broken Wings, Chapter Two

* * *

Ed woke up on the cold ground, panting. _Where am I?_ he thought. Then, everything came back to him all at once — his alchemy, the Gate, and a certain Desmond Tiny.

He sprang up from the dirt so quickly, anyone watching would have only seen a blur. Indeed, Ed had the strange feeling that he was being watched… Or controlled. Yet, when he looked around, he saw nothing but trees and heard nothing but wind. And paper.

Said paper was caught on the branch of a tree nearby. He walked over to it. _Maybe it'll tell me where the hell I am in this place. _No such luck. It seemed to be just an ad for some circus — _Cirque du Freak. See the Wolf-Man and the boy who is part snake! Guaranteed to astound and horrify! Be warned: not for the weak-hearted! Show times on back. Tickets can be bought at—_

Ed was about to throw it over his shoulder when two things caught his eye. First, two of the attractions. _The Wolf-Man and snake-boy._ Call him paranoid, but those two sounded suspiciously like chimeras. He flinched as he remembered his first memorable encounter with a chimera. The remains of what used to be a little girl and her dog. All because he couldn't figure it out in time. It was his fault, all his fault...

Ed shook his head and brooded over the possibilities. How likely was it that this "Circus of Freaks" featured chimeras? Were making chimeras possible in this world? Hell — was alchemy possible?

Careful not to let the flyer blow away, he knelt down and clapped his hands. From where he placed them, a small statue appeared. He crushed the statue beneath his feet and rose. _Of course. _Tiny wanted him to play a game. He'd be no fun without his trademark alchemy.

Well, there was only one way to find out about these chimeras. Taking a quick glance at the address for tickets, he began to make his way through the forest.

_I'll play your goddamn game, Tiny - but don't think that everything will go to plan._

* * *

Night fell and he still wasn't out.

Ed snorted. _Well, isn't that fucking typical. _Seeing as all the stars were out and the moon was up, it seemed like it was time to settle down for the night.

A quick lie-down before he transmuted a shelter couldn't hurt. He'd eat his coat before he would call himself out of shape, but Ed's legs were stinging and his whole body was covered in sweat from walking through the forest for hours. He couldn't exactly make a car if he didn't know how. Besides, he'd probably have run into a tree.

As he stared up at the stars and began to feel a mixture of emotions. Angry and annoyed were most prominent, but he felt a little sad and maybe even… Homesick. He didn't ask for his alchemy back. He didn't ask to be Tiny's chess piece. Everything felt different, hostile. The damp earth. The strange trees. Even the sky — he couldn't find the familiar constellations like the ones he gazed at when he was a kid in Resembool. It was alien. What was he supposed to do here, anyway?! How long did he have to stay? A horrible thought dawned on Ed. _What if Tiny meant to play with him until he died here?_

With a roar of rage — and maybe just a little fear — he brought back his right fist and punched the nearest tree as hard as he could, just to bring it back, hissing in pain. _Right. Not automail anymore. _

Just one more change for Ed to get used to, but at least it was something he agreed with.

Rubbing his knuckles, he sat against the tree trunk and tried to calm down. _Think about it logically. _After all, Tiny was just human — a creepy one, sure, but human. Father had been proof that if you tried to be God, you would be devoured. It never worked. Humans couldn't be equal to God. It just didn't happen.

_Maybe it does in this world, _a little nagging thought said, but Ed ignored it. Tiny was just messing with him. Everything that Ed did, he was doing of his own free will. If he felt like he was being controlled? It was all in his head.

_Tiny forced the Gate to let you through, _the doubt whispered, but it was dismissed.

Ed was woken up by a rustling noise. _Shit! When did I fall asleep? _he thought. Bringing his arms up into a defensive stance, he turned around slowly. _Where are you?_

"Hello there!" "_GAH!" _"OW!"

In a classic Ed moment, he had hit whoever it was in the face when the stranger had greeted him.

"Oh, crap," Ed swore. "Sorry. Are you okay? Damn, I didn't mean to…" his voice petered to silence as he realized what was going on.

The stranger looked up. "Huh? Oh, it's alright." Groaning, he stood up. "Happens a lot… I was just wondering if I could spend the night here. I'd rather not sleep in the forest alone at night, you know what I mean? Murderers and such." Looking at Ed's shell-shocked expression, he waved his hand in front of his face. "Hello? You alright?"

Ed shook his head. "Yeah, it's just that… Er…" How was he supposed to explain this truthfully?

The stranger stopped him. "Hey, it's fine. Happens to everyone." He began to unload his backpack. "Want some food?"

"I'm fine, thanks." Ed settled back before asking "Hey… What's your name?"

"Dean. Dean Rables. Why?"

"No, it's nothing. Call me Ed."

Dean set a fire and sat down. "So, Ed. What are you doing out in the forest so late at night?"

Ed thought a bit before answering. "Traveling. You?"

Rables laid down, hands behind his head. He looked a bit suspicious that it took a while for Ed to answer, but he didn't prod. "Making my way back from work - well, work of a sort. My car died and my phone's been stolen."

Who carried a phone around in his car? How were phones portable? Ed decided not to ask. Most likely, it would earn him strange looks and nosy questions. "Work's quite a distance from home, I guess."

"Yup." Dean sighed. "I used to be part of the police, in a way. Glad that's over."

"No wonder," Ed muttered. If the military was bad, he thought that he could safely assume that being part of the police was too.

They continued to talk into the night until the fire burned out and both were asleep. It turned out that Dean had a wife and daughter — both of whom he loved dearly. Maybe he loved them a little _too _much. Upon discovering the teen's destination, he gave Ed directions to Cirque du Freak. "If you keep going this way, it should be straight out of the forest. Can't miss it, although I do wonder what you'd want with it..." Thankfully, perhaps sensing Ed's discomfort, he didn't pry.

The next day, they wished each other good luck. "Remember, keep heading east and you should come out there," Dean reminded Ed. He waved goodbye and began to walk in the other direction. Ed stood there for a moment, simply looking at Dean's retreating back.

_He really is a lot like Hughes._

* * *

After what seemed an eternity of walking, Ed walked beyond the trees and into a clearing. There were colorful tents set up on the grass and people unpacking. _Finally. Now, let's see what the hell is going on here. _Arriving at his destination had reminded Ed about why he was headed to the Cirque du Freak in the first place.

Walking up to someone, he tapped them on the shoulder while saying "Hey, can you take me to whoever's in-" he jerked back in surprise when he saw the boy's skin. It was covered — _covered! _— with green scales.

"Yeah?" The boy asked.

"Ur, could you take me to whoever's in charge?" Ed asked, trying his best not to stare. If he was a chimera, he was unlike one Ed had ever seen before… Somewhere between the ones like the ones at The Devil's Nest and Nina.

"Oh, you're buying tickets! Follow me," the snake-boy said as he started to walk across the clearing. "My name's Evra, by the way." As Evra chattered away while they walked to the main tent, Ed couldn't help but feel like he was walking into a trap.

* * *

_**Needs. So. Much. EDITING. * **__**Facedesk**__** * If you have any suggestions about how to fix this, please tell me. Flames are accepted.**_

_**Also, I am in search of a beta! If you are willing, review or PM me and I'll see if we could work together well. Unfortunately, if you are my beta, you will be prone to long periods of time with no documents (because I am a lazy ass). Sorry. ;_;**_

_**Yes, I did use the "Look Alike" trope found so often in the Fullmetal Alchemist archive, even though this is manga/Brotherhood-based. It'll be the only time that I use it in this story, I swear! DX (Maybe. Probably.)**_

_**I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist in any way.**_

_**Hope you enjoyed!**_

_**~Joanne**_

_**Additionally, I survived the Reichenbach. I cried and threw stuff at the wall, but I survived. Expect a fanfic. Someday. XP**_


End file.
